diff --git a/src/PSProxmoxVE.Core/Utilities/GuestStatusSnapshot.cs b/src/PSProxmoxVE.Core/Utilities/GuestStatusSnapshot.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..457764a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/PSProxmoxVE.Core/Utilities/GuestStatusSnapshot.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+using System;
+using Newtonsoft.Json.Linq;
+
+namespace PSProxmoxVE.Core.Utilities
+{
+    /// <summary>
+    /// Reads the fields of a guest status/current response that decide whether a
+    /// lifecycle wait (-Wait on Start, Stop, Restart, Reset, Resume) is finished.
+    /// </summary>
+    public static class GuestStatusSnapshot
+    {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Evaluates a status/current response body against the status a caller is waiting for.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="json">Raw status/current response body.</param>
+        /// <param name="expectedStatus">The status being waited for (e.g. "running", "stopped", "paused").</param>
+        /// <returns>
+        /// StatusMatched: the guest reports <paramref name="expectedStatus"/>. qmpstatus is
+        /// preferred over status when present, because PVE reports status=running with
+        /// qmpstatus=paused for a suspended VM.
+        /// Locked: the guest config still carries a lock, so the next API call against it
+        /// would fail to acquire the lock file.
+        /// </returns>
+        public static (bool StatusMatched, bool Locked) Evaluate(string json, string expectedStatus)
+        {
+            if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(json))
+                return (false, false);
+
+            var data = JObject.Parse(json)["data"];
+            var status = data?["status"]?.ToString();
+            var qmpStatus = data?["qmpstatus"]?.ToString();
+            var effectiveStatus = qmpStatus ?? status;
+
+            var matched = string.Equals(effectiveStatus, expectedStatus, StringComparison.OrdinalIgnoreCase);
+            var locked = !string.IsNullOrEmpty(data?["lock"]?.ToString());
+
+            return (matched, locked);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/PSProxmoxVE.Core.Tests/Utilities/GuestStatusSnapshotTests.cs b/tests/PSProxmoxVE.Core.Tests/Utilities/GuestStatusSnapshotTests.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb47d53
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/PSProxmoxVE.Core.Tests/Utilities/GuestStatusSnapshotTests.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+using PSProxmoxVE.Core.Utilities;
+using Xunit;
+
+namespace PSProxmoxVE.Core.Tests.Utilities
+{
+    public class GuestStatusSnapshotTests
+    {
+        [Fact]
+        public void Evaluate_RunningAndUnlocked_MatchesAndIsNotLocked()
+        {
+            var json = @"{""data"": {""status"": ""running"", ""qmpstatus"": ""running""}}";
+
+            var result = GuestStatusSnapshot.Evaluate(json, "running");
+
+            Assert.True(result.StatusMatched);
+            Assert.False(result.Locked);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void Evaluate_RunningButStillLocked_MatchesAndIsLocked()
+        {
+            var json = @"{""data"": {""status"": ""running"", ""qmpstatus"": ""running"", ""lock"": ""clone""}}";
+
+            var result = GuestStatusSnapshot.Evaluate(json, "running");
+
+            Assert.True(result.StatusMatched);
+            Assert.True(result.Locked);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void Evaluate_PrefersQmpStatusOverStatus()
+        {
+            // PVE reports status=running with qmpstatus=paused for a suspended VM.
+            var json = @"{""data"": {""status"": ""running"", ""qmpstatus"": ""paused""}}";
+
+            Assert.False(GuestStatusSnapshot.Evaluate(json, "running").StatusMatched);
+            Assert.True(GuestStatusSnapshot.Evaluate(json, "paused").StatusMatched);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void Evaluate_ContainerResponseWithoutQmpStatus_FallsBackToStatus()
+        {
+            var json = @"{""data"": {""status"": ""stopped""}}";
+
+            var result = GuestStatusSnapshot.Evaluate(json, "stopped");
+
+            Assert.True(result.StatusMatched);
+            Assert.False(result.Locked);
+        }
+
+        [Fact]
+        public void Evaluate_EmptyLockValue_IsNotLocked()
+        {
+            var json = @"{""data"": {""status"": ""stopped"", ""lock"": """"}}";
+
+            Assert.False(GuestStatusSnapshot.Evaluate(json, "stopped").Locked);
+        }
+
+        [Theory]
+        [InlineData("")]
+        [InlineData(null)]
+        public void Evaluate_EmptyBody_DoesNotMatch(string? json)
+        {
+            var result = GuestStatusSnapshot.Evaluate(json!, "running");
+
+            Assert.False(result.StatusMatched);
+            Assert.False(result.Locked);
+        }
+    }
+}